PEECH 



■o^ 



JUDGE BUEBANK, 



;. ^•• 

m THE 



SENATE OF CALIFORNIA. 



•OH THE 



UNIOlSr KESOLUTIONS. 



^ACSIAMSINTO: 

J. ANTHONY & CO., PBINTBKS, tJNION BOOK ANB JOB OFFlCB, 



1^61 



V^^PvK 



f 



SPEECH 



Mr. Burbank — Mr. President, when I first saw the sun of this beautiful morning, 
shedding its light over the world, and its genial influences upon all mankind, I thought, 
sir, that it would be very ]v.oper to consider its origin and its purposes, and it seems 
to me, Mr. President, that the more any man considers the origin of that luminary 
and its purposes, the more he will honor its author and appreciate his blessings. The 
light of that luminary lights up the world, and its genial influences give life, and 
health, and vigor to all living things. It was observed, yesterday, by the Senator 
from Mariposa (Mr. Merritt), that this was not the time, nor the occasion, for the con- 
sideration of the Constitution, or its purposes, or the rights that spring up under it 
— I do not give the exact language of the honorable Senator ; I give the sentiment 
that his language conveyed. I do not mean to misrepresent a word, or a thought, 
of any Senatoi' of this body ; but it struck me at the time that the Senator so said, 
that he was entirely mistaken in the object of this discussion. How can we properly 
consider the resolutions before us unless we consider the Constitution itself, and its 
purposes ? The very object of this discussion has a direct leference to the Constitu- 
tion itself, and the Union of these States, and the rights and the privileges that have 
grown up under it, and also the abuses of the Constitution which are sup]:)osed to 
exist. If there was nothing, Mr. President, upon this occasion about which we 
sliould be concerned, why are we here to-day discussing anything ? If there is noth- 
ing wi'ong, why should we spend our time so needlessly, and without a purpose, in 
discussing resolutions of this nature? I disagree with the Senator from Mariposa. 
I think that it is of the first importance to consider the origin of the Constitution and 
the Union, and its purposes, in order to know how to feel and how to act in relation 
to that sacred instrument. I think that it is well to consider what the influences of 
this Union and Constitution have been upon a nation of freemen. I think it is wel) 
to consider, when that instrument is in danger, how much would be lost if it was 
broken asunder. How is it possible that we can consider its value without taking 
into consideration these matters — its importance of itself, its consequences, its bene- 
fits, its injury if lost? When the Senator from Mariposa says that King George HI. 
made a mistake when he said that the thirteen Colonies must be coerced into subor- 
dination, what are we to understand by that ? I suppose the Senator from Mariposa 
wishes this Senate to understand that he conceives there is a parallel between the 
relations of King George III. and the Colonies in 1776, upon one hand, and the 
Government of the United States and South Carolina on the other. If the Senator 
from Mariposa means that I understand him ; if he means anything else than that, 
I do not understand him. What, Mr. President, did the Colonies complain of? 
What does South Carolina complain of as against the General Govei'ument of this 
country ? Where are the complaints ? Who has published them ? Who has known 
them ? Who has felt the wrong of this Government upon any portion of the Union ? 
If so, what are these wrongs ? Who has held them up for the examination of man- 
kind ? Let us see for one moment what the condition of the thirteen Colonies wa.s 



[i^] 

in 1776, and see if we can find any pandlel between their relations to liie crown of 
England, and the rehuion of South Carolina to this Goveinment. Mr. President, we 
must look into tliis matter, and see, if there is any, what that lelation is. The peo- 
ple, sir, of the thirteen colonies, had good causes of complaint, and they made them 
known to the world. They published them, and wliile these causes "of complaint 
existed, no human power could coerce the people to submit. What did King GeoiQ-e 
do? What were those complaints ? Let facts speak for themselves, and^ve shall 
learn the relations Avhich existed between the crown of England and the colonies of 
America : " The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, ali having in direct object the establishment of an absolute 
tyranny over these States," Does this Government undertake to exert an absolute 
tyranny over any portion of this Union ? " He has refused his assent to laws the 
most wholesome, and necessary for the public good." lias the Goverum((nt of this 
country, of this Union, done any such thing as that? "He has forbidden his Gov- 
ernors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operation until his a-^sent should be obtained, and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them." Eas this Government done any such thincr as that 
towards South Carolina or any other State ? " He has refused "to pass other laws for 
the accommodation of large districts of people, unless these people would relinquish 
the right of representation in the Legislature — a right inestimabie to theni, and for- 
midable to tyrants only." Where has this Government been guilty of any such 
wrong from its beginning to the present day ? "He has called together legislative 
bodies at i)laces unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their pub- 
lic records, for the sole purpo.se of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures." 
Look abroad upon our (government, from iU origin to the present dav, and say if anv- 
thiug like this can be charged upon it. " He has dissolved Kepresentative Houses 
repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; 
whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the peo})le 
at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the 
dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within." Is there, I ask, anything 
like this in this country? Has this (xovernment exercised any such unwarianted 
authority ? If so. where has it been exhibited ? " He has endeavored to j>revent the 
population of these States; for that purpose obsti-Jcting the laws of natuialization of 
foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their Miigration hither, and raising 
the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstiucted the administiation 
of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciaiy powers. He has 
made Judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their t)i}ices, and the 
amount and payment of their salaries." Has any such thing as that been done 
toward South Carolina, or North Carolina, or any other State ?" " lie has erected a 
multitude of new oflices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass oui- people and 
eat out their substance. He has kept among us. in time of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our Legislatures. He has affected to render the military inde- 
pendent of, and sujterior to, the civil power." These, Mi-. President, are some" of the 
causes, soTne of the reasons why the Colonies rose up as one man and declared to the 
world that no power existed among men by which they could be compelled to bear 
these evils, and submit to this oppression. Are these causes similar to any action 
taken by the General Government toward South Carolina, or any other State? And 
yet the Senator from Mariposa says that King (Jeorge made a mistake when he re- 
fused concession. Why, sir, these abuses, these insults, were continued for years, 
and a generous and noble people objecited over and over again, for years. Why is 
King George brought into this issue, except to show that he stoo<.l in the same rela- 



m 

tion to the Thirteen Colonies that this General Government stands in towards South 
Carolina ? We may as well meet the fallacies presented in this issue, first as last. 
No man need come here and pretend to discuss the sense of these resolutions, and 
then fly ofl' at a tang-ent and discuss something else. The time has come when that 
kind of dodging- wont do. The people of this country call upon their public men 
for firmness, and call upon the Senator from Mariposa to stand up like a man and 
vindicate the Constitution of his country against every wrong, and every invasion, 
and every insurrection, and every treason, let it come from where it may. If a man, 
Mr. President, is a Union man when the Union needs no help from his hand, and 
then is no Union man when the Union is in danger, let such men be few and far be- 
tween. The time has come, and now is, when he that is for the Union of his coun- 
try is for the Union of that country when that country is in peiil. The Senator from 
Maiiposa has told us, Mr. President, that we are in the midst of a revolution. He 
says, too, perhaps with great truth, that that revolution is going on ; it is marching 
onward. What doos he propose to do to stop that revolution? What does he pio- 
pose to do to stop treason, if it exists ? What does he propose to do to resist rebel- 
lion, and to maintain, Miope, the supremacy of the law of the laud ? Has he made 
any proposition to do this ? If he has, I have had the misfortune not to understand 
him. I would not pay so much attention to what that Senator said if indeed I had 
not some i-espect for him, and if indeed I had not some respect for the country that 
he and I both live in. That Senator says, with emphasis, that the way to meet this 
present difficulty — the way to meet this threatening attitude of aft'airs — is clear to 
his mind. He says, and I think he distinctly recommends, that the way for the Gov- 
ernment to proceed is to proceed not at all. And it is fairly to be inferred from what 
he says, that if any State, or any portion of a »State, should attempt to tear down the 
National Capitol while the Stars and Stripes wave over it, his voice would be the 
same ; that the same protective power that he invokes now — in action and supineness 
— he would invoke then. That is the Senator's position. Now, if that is reasonable, 
if that is right, let us all embrace that position, and let that Senator be the champion 
of the Constitution upon that ground. Let him have the honor and the name of 
suggesting the right mode of preserving the Union in the midst of peril. But, Mr. 
President, if that Senator will run the hazard of taking ground against the Union by 
his argument, let me say to him that he sleeps his last deep politically, that he has 
fought his last battle, and no sound can aivake him to glory again. [Laughter.] Any 
man who on this occasion, in this crisis, in this extraordinary condition of things, 
takes ground by argument or position against the Union and the Constitution, may 
read his political destiny in the setting, sun. But, Mr. President, let me not abuse or 
raisiepresent one word that that Senator said, or one hair of his head. There is no 
beauty in discussion, there is no honor in argument, if we are to leave the truth of 
the argument and plead to what it does not contain. I mean to hold the Senator to 
the record. I mean that he shall come upon and abide by his record. I say his 
argument is an apology for what has been done against this Government. Let me 
not misrepresent the Senator. When a man makes an argument in this country, or 
in this body, he must be bound by that ai'gument. The words it contains must ex- 
plain themselves. So stands that Senator's argument, and if it has strength in it, if 
it has patriotism iu it, let it live forever ; but if it has neither, let it die its death. 
Suppose, Mr, President, that any patriotic man was tired of this Union. Suppose 
that he did not believe in i'ts virtue or its strength. Would lie say so at this partic- 
ular junctuie ? Would he be prepared in the present condition of things, and the 
present feeling of the country to say that he was opposed to this Union and this 
Government? Not at all. What would he say? He would probably instead of 
saying that, find an apology for its overthrow, find an excuse for rebellion, an excuse 



[^ 

for treason. Is tlic Senator aware, of what has taken place in tliis country witliin a 
recent period ? He has not referred to tlie acts that have been done against his own 
country. lie lias not intimated that anything wiong has been done.'' He has not 
told this Senate tliat he disapproves of a single act of South Carolina. And at tliis 
particular junctuie, if he did disapprove of the acts done there, wliy not say so 
boldly ? If there is anything wrong in one part of the country, why not let the sen- 
timent of the country rebuke the -Anong ? Is not that right ? ' Is not that tlie way 
to let a wholesome public sentiment beVelt ? Certainly, "that is the advantage of the 
intelligence, and that means of intelligence, which a representative government has 
over all others. " ' 

Whilst 1 refer to South Carolina, I may be addressing men from the Palmetto 
State, and I mean to do it with respect for those men and with proper lespect for 
that State. I base these remaiks upon, and I couple this argument with, the idea 
that S(>utli Carolina this day is one of the sister States of this sisterhood of States. 
I base it also upon the idea that the people of Soutli Carolina are the peo])le of thi.s 
Union upon this lovely morning. I also am i'vae to acknowledge, free to say, that 
the people of South .C-rolina a;e bone of our bone and fles>of our flesh. Itis with 
this idea that I address my remarks to the Senate upon these resolutions, and if I did 
not have that senliinent and that feeling I would let the resolutions all go to the 
shades; they should not occupy a moment of my time. When T speak of the act.s 
of South Carolina, I speak of tliem as her own' acts. When it shall appear that 
those acts are wrong, let South Carolina know that we think ho, and if South Caro- 
lina has any regard for our oiiinions she may profit by it. I^ut whilst we, like the 
Senator from Mariposa, say nothing in relation to those acts at all, neither condemn- 
ing them nor approving them, liow can the Palmetto State know how we regard her 
acts? I can tell the Senator that I hive brothers in the SiMitli, and that I have rela- 
tions in the South ; and as a national man, I know no difterence between the sunny 
plains of the Soutii and the bleak mountains of the North, and never will I know 
any ditference when 1 am discussing a national (juestion of right or policy. Hew 
could these resolutions have been introduced with any jiropriety at all, unless it were 
true that somebody, at some time and under some circumstances, in this nation, had 
done some wrong to the Government ? AVliat sense, what reason, what philusophy, 
what anything, could be found in the resolutions, unless something wrong had been 
.suppose*! to be done? Now let us consider what has been done, and wlm has done 
it. If it is right, let us commend it ; if it is wrong, we will (jondenin it. Is it true 
that South Caroliiui, within the last six months, has been colhu-ting arms anil ammu- 
nition, the implements of death, to be used against somebody 'i Is that true ? I so 
understand the Senator in substance. Why is all tliis done in a time of peace, when 
there sits at the head of the Government the very man that South Carolina put there ? 
It is against her own Government and the Administration of her own choice that 
she has acted. Is it true that South Carolina has bid defiance to the power of this 
nation ? Is it true that South Carolina has iired her cannon upon an Ameiican ship, 
over which the Stars and Stripes floated, a ship over which the ensign of our country 
was unfurled to the breeze? Has she done that? Has she repeatedly Iired upon 
that shij), when it was under the direction of the Piesident of the United States, and 
for purposes lawful and proper ? The Senator from M.-vriposa has not referred to it. 
I supj)ose these are the facts which we have come here to discuss, to see what they 
should lead to, antl what should be done to avert the coming storm. If we did not 
come for some such purpose as thai, we had better dismiss the resolutions. Now, so 
far as that Senator is concerned, or his motives are concerned, let it be understood 
that I charge him with no improper design. I charge him with a mistake. I chaige 
him with taking a position unwarranted by the present state of the country and uu- 



IJ ] 

warranted by the circumstances of the time. But that Senator was pleased to say, 
and he did say, that it was an extraordinary thing to his mind, that some men who 
now hold up their hands high for order and union and the supremacy of the law, 
were found a little Avhile ago ti'ampliug upon that very law. He says that is extra- 
ordinary to }iim. It may be so. If that Senator says that in San Francisco the law 
of the country was violated, I shall not dispute him. If he says that he found me 
among six thousand men acting in opposition to the law of the country, I will not 
dispute him. If he says that I was found there, with those six thousand men, without 
my name upon the record, I will not dispute that. If he says, further, which may 
not be the case, that my name is upon the record, I will not deny it. And if it will 
■suit the Senator any better to say that he wishes my name put upon the record, I say 
to him let him put it on to-day, and it shall stand the same as if it had been put on 
in 1856 ; I will never dispute the date of its being put there. But when that Sen- 
ator turns to San Francisco, and the six thousand men collected there at the time 
doing acts contrary to the laws of their country, I ask him to look at the circum- 
■stauees. Does not that Senator well remember that those six thousand men of San 
Francisco did not propose to secede from tiie State of California ? The six thousand 
men of San Francisco never proposed to leave the Union or to leave the State. They 
never proposed to resist the Government because the Government had injured San 
Francisco. What did th«y propose to do ? Those six thousand men proposed to do 
■this ; When the law of the country was fouild insufficient to protect life and prop- 
erty in that city, when blood staine<l every street in San Francisco ; when the peo- 
ple, in spite of the existing law, were startled from their beds by the midnight ciy 
of '' Murdei-,'" over and over again ; wlien the streets ran red with blood in the day 
time from the hand of the assassin, and the law was found insuflScient to give protec- 
tion, those six tlioiisand men rose up — an act never to be denied by me — and took 
their own business into their own hands for the time being, to save life and property 
from the destruction which the law could not prevent. Now, let the Senator charge 
me with being there, and at the same time let ma call his attention to another thing. 
Where was that Senator, and what did he say, about that tim-e ? I hold hini to the 
recoi'd. The Senator from Mariposa (Mr. Merritt) can scarcely expect that he can 
charge upon me inconsistency without my referi'ing to his record, and to what the 
honorable Senator did about those days. Is it true that in 1856 he recommended 
that the force of this State, its military power, should be called u}>on to put down 
that rebellion ? Does he deny that ? Is it true that he recommended that Commis- 
sioners should be sent from this State to the City of Washington, to see the Presi- 
dent and get the forces of the United States to come down and see whether'they 
could not put an end to that rebellion — to see if there was force enough in this State 
and the United States wliich could be gathei'e<l together, to do what? To vindicate 
the law of the land. Do I misrepresent the Senator'*? 

Mr. Merritt — Entirely. 

Mr. BuRBANK — How entirely ? The Senator says that I misrepresent his position. 
If I do, I have been misinfoimed in what I undeistood from others. Then I under- 
stand the Senator to say this, that he did not disapprove those acts, and did not ad- 
vise resistance and compulsory measiires to coerce the people back to order. Will 
the Senator answer the question whether he did or did not ? 

Mr. Merritt — I will answer the Senator that I advised nothing about it. I was 
aot connected with the Government, and could give no advice about it. 

Mr. BtjRBAKK — I ask the Senator if he- took any stand at all at that time ? 

Mr. Merritt — Yes, sir, I did — against it. 

Mr. BuRBANK — Exactly ; he took a stand against it. Why ? Because he was 
for the vindication of the supremacy of tlie law against all people who should trample 



^ 

it under foot, even for temporary purposes. That was his position, I think. Now, if 
that was his position then, why has he change<l ? Would it be wrouw for San Fran- 
cisco to i-ise up in opposition to the law of the land for any purpose, and ri^ht for 
South Carolina? Do not the two stand u|>on the same footing as to the matter of 
right ? Can that Senator, with all his wisdom, and philosophy, and argumient, show 
to me, and show to the satisfaction of the j^ople, that a rule which would justify a 
movement in opposition to San Francisco would uphold South Carolina in fi'vino- into 
a United States ship ? How will the Senator answer that ? That is a matter for him 
to take care of. I say it is not words alone by which we judge men ; and a man, 
when there is no danger to the country, no dang-er to the Union or the Constitution, 
may say " Union" — ^he may Vf-rite a book in which there sliall be no other word than 
"Union" — and what will it amount to at a time when the Government stands in no 
need of help? If, when the Government does stand in need of help, the same man 
writes a book in which the word "Union" does not appear within its lids, what kind 
of a Union man would that be ? I hope there will be very few such in this country. 
Now, if tlie Senator will pardon me, I will pay my respects to another Senator. 
What I have said with regard to the Senator from Marij)osa (Mr. Merritt) has been 
said in no unkindness to him. I give my opinion of his record, and that, I think, is 
fair debate. I regret that the honorable Senator from El Dorado (Mr. Crittenden) is 
not here. That Senator, the other day, in discussing these resolutions, gave one 
important piece of information to this Senate. He said that he loved South Carolina, 
that he was born there ; that there he saw the first sunlight ; that there he breathed 
his fii'st breath of air ; that he loved that State, and would always love it, and always 
defend it. In the expression of that sentiment, that noble feeling, the galleries caught 
the sympathy, and gave a responsive applause. My own heart felt it when than Sen- 
ator said he loved his State, and loved his mother, and loved his native hind — and 1 
responded that is right, the same everywhere. But after he liad said all that, I could 
not help asking myself what, upon the whole, it proved. Why, sir, it proved this : 
that if the Senator spoke his sentiments, it was really true that he was born in South 
Carolina; that it was absolutely true that he loved that State, and that it was also 
ti'ue that he would defend her — that is what it proved. But how much did it prove 
on this question, whether South Carolina was right or wrong? 'J'hat is tlie (juestion. 
How much proof did that Senator give of his opinion upon whether that State was 
right or wrong? I might say that 1 loved the State of Maine, and I do. I was born 
there. I was born where the sun rises, and I live near where it sets. [Ijaiighter.] 
It has been said that where I lived was so far East that the people had to hitch a 
tackle to the sun to get it up in the morning. [Laughter.] l^eitso; be it so. 
Could I help where I was born? Had I anything to do with the place? A man is 
born, and he finds himself thei'e before he knows it. [(Jreat laughter.] A man can 
no more help being born in Maine than he can help being born in South Carolina or 
Virginia. It is all the same. Charge it upon no man that he was born in any par- 
ticular place. If he says he was born all along the coast, how in the world can we 
help it or blame him ? [Laughter.] So much for the Senator from El Dorado (Mr,. 
Crittenden), a youthful Senator, a Senator that loves his country, that loves the Pal- 
metto State, and loves his mother, loves his father, loves the place whore he first diew 
breatli, and loves the place where he first saw the light of the sun. He has given 
us that information, and I thank him. But he has given us no information as to the 
State of South Carolina, and what she has done, or whether he apjiroves her acts or 
not. He sim{)ly says he will defend her. How will he defend her ? Wo come 
here to inquire whether South Carolina is to blame or not; and if a man comes here 
to argue anything else, that argument is hardly pertinent to the issue. The Senator 
from El Dorado himself, who was born in South Carolina, in the Palmetto Slate, did 
not say that he approved of her act in firing upon a United States ship. 



[9] 

The PRESIDENT pro tern. — The Chair hopes the Senator will address his remarks 
to the Chair. 

Mr. BuRBANK — Mr.-President, I am happy to address the Chair. I mean to ad- 
dress the Chair in the language of truth and soberness. Once in a while, Mr. Pres- 
ident, it is a little relief to turn from the President and look upon my countrymen. 
[Lauijhter.] The President himself is one of our good citizens of the country ; but 
he isnot all the country, [Laughter.] I shall be entirely under the direction of 
the President, and entii'ely obedient to his suggestion. I have a word or two to say 
to another honorable Senator whom I see here. I have a gieat deal of respect for 
that Senator — the honoi'able Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton). He interested a 
large audience the other day, as I am not able to do, and about matters and things 
upon some of which I would not undertake to interest any audience. I will be a 
free man, and discuss the subjects which I think ought to be discussed. I will say 
in relation to that Senator, however, that he made an argument creditable to himself 
— creditable to his genius and industry. He discussed, however — it is not improper 
for me to say so, perhaps — those questions and subjects which I supposed had been 
absolutely settled twenty-nine years ago. The necessity of discussing those particu- 
lar things which have been settled so long was a matter of taste for that gentleman. 
I will say, that the Senator may not misunderstand my motives, that I am an older 
man than he, not a wiser. I was twenty-one when the subjects of nullification and 
secession were discussed in our country twenty-eight or twenty-nine years ago. I 
took an interest in that discussion — in what General Jackson said, in what Mr. Web- 
ster, Mr. Clay, Mr. Benton, and all the great men of that day said on those subjects. 
It is all fiimiiiar to my mind at the present day, and I had supposed that if any ques- 
tion could be settled by mortal man or by human power, that the question of seces- 
sion and nullification was then settled in the minds of the whole American people. 
Therefore, as to this question I have no discussion to make. I take it for granted it 
has been settled long ago — a long time ago. [Laughter.] But that is not what I 
will particularly call the Senator's attention to at this time. I hold the Senator to 
bis record, and I will bind him to the record, and he must stand by the record or 
fall by it. It is not allowed a man in this body to make a record and not stand up 
to the record. He must stand up to it here; he must stand up to it in the presence 
of his constituents, and must be responsible by it to his country. When I said I did 
not intend to enter into a political party debate in discussing this question, I said 
what I meant ; I did not intend to let party issues come in here. Whether Douglas 
was right or wrong — whether Buchanan is the greatest, wisest, best man in the 
world, or not — I did not mean to discuss ; for, in view of the elevated subject we are 
discussing — a subject in which the whole country takes an interest — I did not intend 
to enter upon any questions of mere party considerations. But, sir, the Senator from 
Napa was pleased to say certain things to which I take exception. Travehng out of 
the line of argument, he says that the Republican party is in the last agonies of 
death ; he says that the Republican party has the Greeleyisms in it, and the Sewai disms, 
and the Sunmerisms, and that they are as poisonous as the upas ti'ee to the prosper- 
ity of the party and the country. He says, too, that the Republican party has 
against it the Supreme Court of the United States. He says that the Senate of the 
United States is against it. He says that the House of Representatives of the Uni- 
ted States is against the party, and that it is in the last expiring agonies of death. 
Who, I ask, told the Senator all this? What book has he found it in — what alma- 
nac — what spelling-book ? Not Webster's, for I read that myself [Laughter.] 
What testament, new or old, contains any such idea as to the weakness of the Re- 
publican pai'ty, and proclaims, as the Senator thinks, that it is in the last expiring 
agonies of death ? But, Mr. President, there is one thing to be considered. When 



im 

I, or you, or any Senator, has made a proposition, after it is made it stands there to 
his credit or discredit, as the case may be, and he must stand upon the record. 
How, I ask, does the Senator fi'om Napa estimate power ? How does he estimate 
weakuess? How does he estimate agony ? [Loud huighter.] Perhaps he can tell 
ns. But he says that the Republican party is so weak that it did not get but a little 
over a quarter of a million majority in the Northern States. But a little more than 
a quarter of a million — is it possible ? Is that an indication of weakness ? Is that 
an indication of sudden death? Is that any indication of the last agony? How 
much majority did Douglas get over the same ground ? I never heard of any. 
Perhaps the Senator from Napa has heard that Douglas is elected President of the 
United States. I never heard of it, and if the Senator from Napa should say that he 
is elected, while I should not doubt his sincenty, I should doubt the coriectness of 
his history. Perhaps the Senator from Napa has a rule for estimating the strength 
and weakness of a party, and if he says that a majority is an indication of weakness, 
and a minority an indication of strength, then I say to the Senator, by that rule he 
•will probably, in a short time, have the strongest party in the land. [Laughter.] 
Now, I ask the Senator what kind of agony the Douglas party is in ? Is it a dying- 
agony or a living agony? And, as the question may put the Senator in a little di- 
lemma, I will help him out. The condition of his party is this : The Douglas party 
has been ailing and in a bad state of health for a long time, and is getting no better 
very fast [laughter] ; and if it is true that the party is to be restored to health, it will 
be an extraordinary instance of recovery under circumstances indicating constitu- 
tional debility and rapid decline. Mr. President, I object to this declaration made 
by the Stjnator from Napa in relation to this supposed weakness of the Republican 
party. And I call the Senator's attention to another circumstance : When he says 
the Supreme Court of the United States is against the Republican party, let me tell 
the Senator that the Republican party has something on its side. When he says 
that the Senate of the United States is against the party, let me remind the Senator 
that the Republican party has something on its own side. Why, sir, it has sound 
political pnnciples. It has a President of the United States and a Vice President in 
a few days, in a few days. [Laughter.] And it has something more upon its side 
— it has the people. Is the party very weak ? Is it a very inconsiderable party ? Is 
it in the last agonies of death ? Does the Senator suppose the paily is starving ? 
Does not the Senator see, as is usual after Presidential elections, a host of good men 
inarching up to the public crib — do you think they are going to starve ? Is the 
Re|iublican party made up of such weak men, so modest, so I'etiring, so diffident in 
their manners they can't march up to the public crib ? Sir, they are not going to 
die of starvation. And there is another thing to be considered in this charge against 
my pai'ty — I am a Re[)ublican. 1 never meant to ask that Senator what paity he 
belonged to ; but he forces me into it, and requires me to say what I think of that 
party. He has told the country what he thinks of it. I notify that Senator that six 
months ago the Republican party raised its banner to the breeze with no disunion on 
it. It unrolled its platform of principles and exposed them to thirty millions of free- 
men, and those principles were considered alongside of the Douglas platform of prin- 
ciples, and by the side of the Breckinridge platform of principles, and by the side of 
the Ix'll principles, if they had any. [Laughter.] Thirty millions of people consid- 
\ered all these platforms — not in one day alone, but in half a year of days. Every 
.stump, every field, almost every church and school house in the land was a forum of 
debate upon those principles that were spread out before the people for their consid- 
eration. They were all debated fairly, for certainly the Douglas party is not wanting 
in talent — thei'e is a wonderful evidence of what I say [pointing towards the Senatoi- 
from Napa, Mr. Edgerton]. It is not wanting in philosophy of a certain kind. It is 



nij 

not wanting in history. It is not wanting in eloquence. Why didn't you advocate 
those principles better ? Why did you not make the people believe — these thirty 
millions of people, whose interests are dear to them — interests which concern them 
as a nation and as men — why did you not mahe them believe that your principles 
were right 1 Ha ! you tiied it ! and after a fair consideration of a great and gener- 
ous people, after all arguments the people decided — the free people of this country 
made a decision. What was it ? They decided, after looking over the Douglas 
principles carefully, coolly, deliberately, honestly, that they could not accv?pt them. 
They were compelled, they say, to reject them. That is the decision on that point. 
They looked at the Breckinridge principles with equal care, with equal solicitude, 
with the Administration and the money on its side, and with the high prestige of 
the name of Democracy. Still the people said upon the whole they would be veiy 
glad to support the old Democracy if they could see it ; but they could not support 
its principles, and they rejected that platform, too. So it was with Mr. Bell — not 
that Senator Bell [pointing to the ex-Senator of Alameda, who was sitting near], be- 
cause that Senator always rings out a better sound. What did these people say ? 
Has that Senator (from Napa)torgotten ? Only on the sixth of November it hap- 
pened. What did the people say ? Thirty millions of people said that they would 
take the Republican platform and its principles, and would acknowledge them to be 
the ruling principles of this country for four years. That is the verdict. Now does 
that Senator (Mr. Edgertou) suppose that he has power enough to convince the Re- 
publican party to-day that that is not a good verdict ? Does he suppose, because he 
raises his voice here and proclaims weakness in advance, that it is weak, therefore ? 
Not at all. It is not weak, sir. [The President in the chair.] The Senator from 
Napa (Mr. Edgerton) has been pleased to say that Sewardism, G-reeleyisra and Sum- 
nerism ai-e a poison to the party, of which the party must die. Such is the sentiment 
of that Senator. These isms, he says, are to sting the party to its death ; and he 
says, substantially, that they are enough to crowd a party down and put it in the last 
expiring agonies of death. Is that true philosophy ? What has Senator Seward 
done that he should poison any party or any country ? Does that Senator (Mr. Ed- 
gerton) point out anything against Senator Seward? Does not Senator Seward this 
day stand up among thirty millions of freemen, the tallest of them all perhaps ? 
What has he done to hurt this country I What has he done to hurt any 
party ? The gentleman is silent on that subject. What has Horace Greeley 
done that he should be an incubus on the party ? Where is there a man of 
more intelligence, except the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) ? [Laughter.] 
Where is there a man of more extensive information and broader ideas, 
and more patriotic sentiments than Greeley, except the Senator from ^[ariposa (Mr. 
Merrilt) ? And what has he against Sumner, the man of Massachusetts ? Why he 
says Sumnerism is a poison. What has Sumner done ? Is not he a statesman of 
the highest order ? When that Senator from Napa can meet the arguments of 
Charles Sumner, and refute them — then what he says will be of some consequence. 
[Laughter.] When he will make a record of his own, showing that the principles of 
Charles Sumner cannot be supported, and must be refuted, and that he can refute 
them, he will be the tallest man in California, perhaps in the United States. I would 
go for him for the next President, if he will do it, and if he will do other things as 
well. It is a little remarkable that the Senator from Napa should select three per- 
haps of the most distinguished men of the Republican party, perhaps the ablest men, 
everything considered, in America at this day ; men of high principles, sound intelli- 
gence, undoubted integrity, the deepest loyalty to the Government, and the most un- 
alloyed patriotism — and say that these three men are an incubus to a party and rank 
poison to its success. When the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) will produce 



I^12J 

from the Douglas party three as good and as able men, then he might have some 
reason to say that there are better men th^iu those three, if those that he selected were 
better. When he produces three men from any party in this country that are more 
able, that are wiser, that are more patriotic, more respected, higher in the order of intel- 
lect — when he'll do that, I should like to be introduced to them. This country would 
like to have their services. Any party would be proud of them. But while those 
men I have referi'ed to stand high in the nation's eye and in the nation's heart, it 
takes more than the mere assertion even of the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) to 
blast their fame or their reputation. Now, Mr. President, perhaps it is true that I 
have said as unich in answer to the Senators as I ought, and as nmc-h, perhaps, as the 
nature of the case re<juires. I have endeavored to meet what they have said that was 
objectionable in iny mind. Now, sir, I ask that the resolutions under discussion be 
read. 

The Secretarv read the resolutions reported by the Committee. 

Mr. Burba NK — I will now undertake a discussion of the resolutions. I do not 
know that I shall be able to enlighten the Senate upon the questions embraced in 
these resolutions. I cannot tell how much difference may exist in the minds of men 
as to the degree of importance in which the subject matter of these resolutions is to 
be regarded. Difference of opinion may be honestly entertained as to the causes 
which have led to the present condition of affairs. The same difference of opinion 
may be found to exist as to what consequences will follow the present extraordinary 
antagonism of South Carolina to the Constitution and laws of the United States. 
How the present crisis should be met is a consideration of momentous interest. 
Whatever its causes may have been, whether real or imaginary, whether induced by 
the prevalence of Northern sentiment, or by Southern sentiment, the time has come 
when an uncommon event has actually taken place. In the origin of our Govern- 
ment, the men who framed it were not ignorant of the principles of human action. 
Their patriotism led them to hope for uninterrupted prosperity and unbroken har- 
mony. They fondly hoped, as they looked into the future of this Government, that 
the fire of patriotism would in all coming time warm the hearts and strengthen the 
hands of the American peo|)le. They devoutly hoped that the warm liie-blood, that 
the battle fields of the Revolution had copiously drunk in, would cement a Govern- 
ment too pure, too sacred for the touch of treason. They hoped that this Govern- 
meut would secure for ever the blessings of that liberty for which a Washington 
fought, a Warren fell, and a Ileniy plead. The great purposes of our Government 
are clearly and distinctly stated in the Constitution. Let the Constitution speak for 
itself, and tell the purposes for which it was made. "We, the people of the United 
States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- 
stitution for the United States of America." Here are the purposes of the organic 
law of this nation. So says the Constitution, so stands the record. The people or- 
dained this Government for these purposes, and is not this record true? Did not the 
people, in their higliest capacity, form a more perfect Union than that which was 
formed by the old confederation of States ? Under the old confederation, the Stales 
entered into a league of fiiendship with each other. So stands the record. This 
league was made in 1777. A very few years of experience showed to the people 
that a simple league of friendship between States could not act directly upon the 
people, and was not a people's Government ; and in 1787 our present Constitution 
was formed, ordained and established by the people, and it is a moie perfect Union. 
It makes the people of all the States one people. They become the bees of one hive, 
with separate cells. Destroy the hive, and all the cells are exposed to one connnon 



[13] 

ruin. Our Constilution spreads its protecting power over all our domain, all our 
homes, all our separate properties and interests. It provides for the general welfare. 
It is intended to insure domestic tranquillity. All the great purposes of the Consti- 
tution have been secured — have been realized from the veiy date of its origin to the 
present day. And it is for the men of this day, of this age, in \hh juncture, at this 
crisis to dete; mine whether these great vital purposes for which the Government was 
ordained, shall still continue secure. It is for us to say whether the blessings of hb- 
erty shall be secured for us and for our posterity, or whether those blessings of liberty 
shall be forever lost to us and to our posterity. There can be no reasonable doubt in 
the mind and the soul of any true American, how this question ought to be deter- 
mined. The gi'ass-grown graves of our fathers, the monuments upon the battle 
o-rounds where brave men fell and liberty rose, the ensign of freedom that proudly 
floats over this capitol, our families and firesides, and the God of Liberty call upon 
us at this time to be men worthy of our sires, and worthy the liberty their valor won. 
This is not the time, this is not the day or the hour to discuss the questions of seces- 
sion and nullification. Nearly thirty years ago these questions agitated our whole 
nation. From Maine to Louisiana, and from the Atlantic to the lakes, the whole 
people were one great Committee of Inquiry and Investigation. The intellect, the 
wisdom and learning of that day were invoked, were called upou to discuss and de- 
termine these questions. They answered to the ca'l. They did discuss them and 
determine tlietn, and if, in the course of human events, it is possible for men or na- 
tions to make a final deteimination of any question, a final determination of the 
questions of secession and nullification was then made by a nation of freemen. Many 
men are now living who then felt the shock. The thunder of nullification shook the 
very hills, and filled the country with alarm and consternation. Nullification then 
threatened the Constitution, and defied its power. Nullification then had its repre- 
sentatives ; it then had its advocates. Vice and wrong are never without their rep- 
resentatives — never without advocates — never without their sympathizers. Aaron 
Burr had his admirers, and Benedict Arnold had his fiiends. So had nullification 
its advocates and fi lends. What action did the people take at that time? What 
stand did the General Government then take ? What said the President of the Uni- 
ted States then? General Jackson may indeed have had his errors, may have had 
his enemies; he may not have been entirely perfect; but the General was a brave 
man, and a lover of his country. He was a patriot of the highest, noblest order. 
What stand did he take ? He was for the Union, and against its enemies. He de- 
clared that the Union must and should be preserved. If General Jackson had no 
other claim upon his country's gratitude, but that noble stand he took when the in- 
tegrity of the Union was threatened, for that alone he would be entitled to an undy- 
ing gi'atitude and an imperishable fame, '■^Dulcc et decorum est pro jyatria morV 
He was ready to breast the storm, to face the danger, and if need be to die gloriously 
in defense of the Great Charter of American liberty. May his gieat name, and his 
noble deeds forever live in the hearts of his countrymen. And while all true patri- 
ots shall find encouragement in his example, may the enemies to free government 
and our Constitution take warning and profit by it. Let the enemies to the Consti- 
tution remember that though General Jackson is dead, his spirit lives, his name lives, 
his word lives. All these five, and are this day and this hour preparing the minds 
and hearts of the people to follow his example and preserve the Union, so that no star 
shall fade from the bright constellation of stars — so that no beam, or post, or brace 
shall be torn out of the great framework of the Constitution. I hope I shall be ex- 
cused from making an aigument at this time to show that secession and nullification 
are impossible. I assume that it has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that 
secession and nullification can never take place while our Constitution stands and the 



[14] 

Stars and Stripes wave over our National Capitol. And let us not forget him who 
defended the Constitution nearly thirty years ago. He sleeps in his grave at Marsh- 
field. But it is not all of him that sleeps in the grave. He also has a record ; he 
also has a history ; he also has a name wide as the earth, deep as philosophy, and 
powerful as eloquence. Such a man, though he be dead, still lives. In tlie day of 
storm and peril General Jackson" looked to Daniel Webster for support, and he did 
not look in vain. When the lion of the Constitution started from his lair and shook 
from his mane the dew-drops of the morning, the tiger of secession slunk away into 
its hiding place. When the Constitution, through the lips of Webster, spoke in its 
power, nullification was hushed into silence. The voice that came up from the Con- 
stitution that day is in the ear of the American people this day. That voice will al- 
ways speak, and nullification is dead. It is buried, and no voice can call it from the 
grave. Nullification needs no refutation at my hands. Secession and nullification 
grew u]i(in the same soil, were nurtui-ed by the same hands, they die the same death, 
they are buried in the same grave. They were not without power in their life time. 
They had power enough to destroy their own advocates. They had power enough 
to arouse a nation of freemen. But they have not power enough to destroy our glo- 
rious Constitution. When we turn our thoughts to the past, and by imagination 
survey the storm of 1833 — when we see the flashes of lightning sliooting across the 
political sky from the dark and threatening clouds, and hear the pealing thunder 
shaking the institutions of our laud — we must not forget the Sage of Ashland. In 
that storm of storms, Henry Clay rose up, and lifted his lofty form above the warring 
elements, above the clouds themselves. His voice was heard. It rang out in tones 
of patriotism and eloquence. A nation listened, a nation was convinced, a nation 
was calmed. The stoi'm was hushed, the clouds dispersed, and the bright sun of lib- 
erty and j)eace rose more blight and more beautiful than ever before. Henry Clay ! 
may his voice never die! May his love of country, his love of the Constitution, his 
love of the Union, live in our hearts! May it animate the whole American people 
in all coming time! Be it so — and the Constitution and the Union will outlive the 
groveling schemes of ambition, will outlive the strifes of party, and the jealousies of 
sectionalism. They will outlive the prophecies of kings, and emperors, and auto- 
crats — and they will outlive the works of rebellion and treason. They will outlive 
everything but the happiness and glory of mankind. There is no secession within 
the broad circumference of the American Union. But sir, there is a revolution. 
That revolution will either be a successful revolution and subvert the Government of 
the American people, or the American people, by the power of this Government, 
must resist and overcome the revolution, and assert and maintain the supi'einacy of 
the Constitution and the laws. In my judgment this is a statement of the case. 
This is the case, and we may properly consider the evidence which belongs to this 
case. I suppose that certain facts belonging to this case are admitted, and if admit- 
ted, need not be proved. It appears to be admitted that South Carolina has denied 
the right of tlie General Government to exercise jurisdiction over the persons, prop- 
erty or territory of that Slate ; that she declares herself to be a free and independent 
State ; that she owes no allegiance to the American Constitution ; that she will de- 
fend herself in the maintenance of this position against the power of the General 
Government ; that she will obey no ordinance, law or act passed or to be passed by 
Congress ; that she will resist any attempt of the General Government to compel her 
obedience to the Government and laws of the United States. I tmderstand it to be 
a fact that the people of South Carolina have taken Fort Moultrie from the posses- 
sion of the (ieueral Government ; that .she threatens to take Fort Sumter; that when 
an x\merican vessel under the flag of the Union and under the direction of the Pres- 
ident of the United States, having on board men and supplies for Fort Sumter, en- 



• [15] ' 

tered the harbor, South Carohua fired upon that vessel, and fired into that vessel, and 
by an armed force prevented the landing of that vessel at the port to which she had 
been sent by the authority of the Government of the United States. I understand 
it to be true that South Carolina, for more than six months last past, and in time of 
peace, has supplied herself with arijis and munitions of war, for the avowed purpose 
of using them against the General Government. I believe it is admitted that South 
Carolina has done all this. This, then, is the case to be considered, to be met ; and 
it needs no prophet to foretell how it will be considered by the American people, and 
how it will be met by them. One of the grand purposes of the American Union 
was to insure domestic tranquillity. Regarding it as a well settled proposition that 
secession is impossible, it follows that South Carolina is yet in the Union, and a part 
and portion of the Union, as well as Massachusetts or New York. Can any man 
doubt that the domestic tranquillity of the United States has been disturbed ? " The 
Constitution provides that the Constitution and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all the treaties made or which shall be made 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and 
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." What is the opposite of do- 
mestic tranquillity? Insurrection upon any acre within the jurisdiction of the Uni- 
ted States is the opposite of domestic tranquillity. An attempted revolution within 
the borders of our General Government is the opposite of domestic tranquillity. A 
wanton violation of the supreme law of the land is the opposite of domestic tran- 
quiUity. How can the General Government insure domestic tranquillity, while it 
allows the supreme law of the land to be trampled under foot ? When the oi-ganic 
law of this nation declares its purpose to be to insure to all the people domestic 
tranquillity, how is it to be supposed that tranquillity can be insured while insurrec- 
tion is allowed to destroy that tranquillity? When the purpose of the Constitution 
was to establish justice, how can that purpose be carried out if Courts are broken up 
and Judges hauled from their seats, and the supreme law of the land is set at defi- 
ance ? Can it be supposed that the men who made and ordained our Government, 
and in it declared the purposes for which it was ordained, did not intend that these 
purposes should be carried out ? Can a Government exist a single day without the 
power in itself to make laws and carry those laws into eflfect ? When the Constitu- 
tion declares its purpose to provide for the common defense, is it to be supposed that 
this common defense means nothing but a defense against a foreign power? When 
our Government is attacked, or threatened, or assailed, or put in danger by any 
power at home or abroad, is it not to be defended ? Will the people of this nation 
defend her flag on the land, and on the sea, against all foreign powers on the globe, 
and at the same time say to the rebellion : " Tear down the flag of your country, 
sink the national ships and burn the national Capitol, if you will ?" and is all that 
to be done without an effort to save them — without a struggle ? What will the 
American people say to that? What will an American freeman, of whatever party 
or from whatever State, say to that ? South Carolina has no more right to tear down 
the American flag than England has — no more right to fire her cannon into an 
American ship than France has ; and if South Carolina will fire into an American 
ship under an American flag, is there no way to prevent her ? Is there no way to 
rebuke her ? Is there no power in our Government to maintain the laws of the land ? 
Is there no power to punish treason, to quell insurrection, to stop rebellion, or to 
maintain the supremacy of the laws of the land ? I think there is ample power to 
do all this ; and I am the man who is not afraid to say it — certainly not in a land 
of freemen. When one Senator, the other day, asked another if he meant to say 
that no force could be used, the Senator said, in reply ; " Did you understand me 



n6j 

so ? Then you are mistaken." I will not be mistaken io what I mean to sav. In 
my humble judjrrneut, when the American Government, in the plenitude of her 
rightful power, shall speak to South Cai'olina as nations sometimes speak to treason 
and rebellion, her voi(;e will be heard and obeyed. The voice of our National Gov- 
ernment should have been spoken long ago, and in tones that could not be misun- 
derstood ; and if that had been done, universal tranquillity would be enjoyed at this 
hour. When the Government is compelled to resist a domestic enemy, it is to be 
done with a majesty and power equal to the emergency. It should compel all that 
obedience that the general safety and genei'al good of the people requiie. It should 
never ask reliellion how long it intended to rebel ; it should never ask the traitor 
how much moie treason he intended to commit; it should never ask the leaders of 
a revolution how mucdi of a revolution was intended ; but it should stop it at once, 
and effectually. When it is asked how it is to be done ; how treason and rebellion 
are to be stopped — when it is asked, it ought to be answered, and answered, too, by 
every man who has an American heart in his breast, a man who loves every inch of 
his country, and her whole people. It must be answei'ed — there is no escape. You 
may answer it to-day, or you may delay it to-day ; but you are bound sooner or later 
to answer that question. Why not ask how to sail a ship ? To that question I 
would answer: I would sail her, if I had the power, in such a manner that she 
would reach her destined port. In a spirit of kindness and dignity I would make 
the crew do their duty while the stars and stripes should iioat from the masthead. 
I am free to answer the question " How shall treason and rebellion be met and 
stopped?" My answer is: "Let the supremacy of the law of the land be main- 
tained all the time, and in all coming time." And I thank no man to stand aghast 
and hold up liis hands in holy horror at my answer. If there is such a man here, I 
would ask him how long, to the best ot his belief, it would take him and all others 
like him, in that way to quell an insurrection or subdue rebellion ? When a hundred 
or a thousand men deliberately aim the most fatal implements of war and death, 
and disehaige them upon the persons and property of the people of this Govern- 
ment, in defian<'.e of the power of the Government itself, no man need ask what is 
the nature of the offense, or how it should be punished. 1 am one of the humblest 
members of this body; but I feel that a question is before us, and that question, by 
its decision, when made by the controlling power of the country, must affect, for 
good or evil, thirty millions of people. I am not unmindful that it should be dis- 
cussed with that tone and temper which become a well-wisher of the public good. 
I have no motives to conceal. I have no convictions to smother. All who this day 
know my po'^ition in this crisis, may this day know where I shall stand in all com- 
ing time. My position is that we, the thirty millions of people, have this day a Na- 
tional Government, and that Government the wisest and the best that has ever 
blesse<l any nation upon the globe. And I will this day, and for the balance of my 
life, stand by the Constitution of our common country. And when war from with- 
out, or treason from within, would tear down that masterpiece of human wisdom 
that our Washington helped to construct, I will stand by the Constitution and de- 
fend it. It is only within a few short months that I ever supposed that we, the 
American people, could entertain any difference of opinion as to whetlier we have a 
Government; that American Senators could look one another in the face and ask if 
we have a (Jeneral Government. While the Stars and Stripes float over this Capitol, 
and Washington [pointing to the portrait on the wall] looks down upon our delibera- 
tions, who is willing to say that the American people have no Government? Who 
is willing to say that it is lost, and lost without a struggle, and without an eflfort to 
preserve it ? I say, who? I say it is not lost. We still have it. We will still hold 
to it, now and in all coming time ; and we will uphold it in spite of treason and re- 



[17] 

bellion, come they from what quarter of the Union they may. This Government 
will stand the shock. Weak minds and weak men may not think so. Those who 
think that it cannot stand a shock do not know the throbbing, beating impulse of the 
great American heart. I teli you that when the question is presented to the Ameri- 
can people, affecting their homes and every interest — the question whether we shall 
stand by the Union or not — they will rise up and say, " Let the Union be defended 
against every power that can be brought against it." This Govermnent will stand 
the shock and show her power, and will triumph over all her foes. When delusion 
and fanaticism shall have done their worst ; when party spiiit shall have exerted all 
its unpatriotic influences ; when treason and rebellion shall have spent their utmost 
force, the people's Government, the people's Constitution will stand like a rock in the 
ocean, unmoved by the warring elements. Deeply fixed and imbedded in the Iiearts 
of the people, our Constitution will grow stronger and stronger, till its power shall 
be universally acknowledged and obeyed. It is for the enemies of the Union to say 
how much it will cost to defend and maintain this Union. It is tor the restless spirits 
of the land to say how long it will take to secure to the people that domestic tran- 
quillity which the Union was intended to insure. It is for the violators of the su- 
preme law of the land to determine what it will cost to vindicate the supremacy of 
the law. That is a question for them to answer, and n©t for me. They best know the 
extent to which their resistance is intended to be carried. They best know their own 
purposes, and they best can tell how much it will cost the (government to defeat their 
purposes and maintain the Union. Gentlemen need not ask what it will cost to sa-. e 
our national integrity and national honor. I cannot tell vvliat it will cost. I cannot 
make the estimate. But I can tell what national liberty did cost. It cost the blool 
of the Revolution, seven years of grim-visaged war with all its horrors, millions of 
treasure, and the graves of thousands of patriots, whose love of liberty laid bare their 
bosoms to the shafts of death ; and we fondly hope that the same love of liberty 
warms and animates our hearts this day, and we devoutly hope that the same love of 
liberty may animate the hearts of the American people in all coming time. Hut it 
is not alone the cost of freedom that fixes its value. The improved condition of a 
mighty nation under its intiuence, the happiness and prosperity of the past, the 
present, and succeeding millions of men, compel us to regard the cause of liberty and 
union as the cause above all other causes, of immeasurable magnitude — the eause 
not only dear to us as American freemen, proud of the ensign of liberty, and of its 
blessings, too ; but dear, also, to millions of oppressed and down-trodden people in 
other lands, who look to the success of free institutions in this country with the deep- 
est solicitude. They know full well that if liberty in America, planted by the right 
hand of a Washington, and watered by tlie life-blood of as brave men as e\er fought 
the battles of their country, cannot thrive, cannot mature, cannot stand the great 
test of the great experiment of self-government, then it will be in vain for any land 
or any people to hope for the success of liberty and i'ree institutions. I will not at- 
tempt to determine what it will cost to restore harmony, to insure domestic tran- 
quillity, to give a fatal rebuke to treason, to put down rebellion, and to vindicate tlie 
supremacy of the law of the land. Let other men fix in their own minds the prob- 
able cost of all this. If the treasonable acts of any one State, or portion of a State 
could be measured by the geographical limits of the otfending State, South Carolina 
would then stand in a position a thousand times less dangei'ous than her present 
position. Then her disgrace would be the disgrace of South Carolina, 'i'hen her 
loss would be the loss of South Carolina alone. Then her character would be the 
"character of South Carolina. Then her disloyalty would blacken her own history 
alone. Then her future would be the result of her own rashness and folly. But the 
acts of South Carohna cannot be so limited. The people of the American Union, in 

2 



im 

tlie State of Soutli Caroliim, insulted tlie Ainericau flag, set at defiance the law of 
the laud, and fired upon a {Government ship to defeat the lawful purposes of the 
Government. The deep-toned tlumder of lebellion and treason pealed upon the 
startled ears of thirty millions of peojile. Can any man doubt what pulsation of 
the great heart of the country must follow that deep-toned tocsin of war and defi- 
ance ? It is not the character of South Carolina alone that is touched by the roar 
of that cannon. The character of the wliole nation feels the shock. The American 
Union not only has a character at home to sustain, but she must maintain a charac- 
ter at home that will command respect abroad. Treason and rebellicn may rise 
upon a single acre of American soil, but their unhallowed influence will reach the 
remotest cornei' of the civilized world. Rely upon it, when the American flag can 
with imjiiiriity be insulted at home, it will find no respect among the nations of the 
earth. As it is with a man, so it is with a nation. If a man has no respect for him- 
.celf, how shall he ask othei's to respect him ? Let no man infer from this argument 
that there is no national regard for Carolina. That the Union has abandoned her, 
and has no other feeling towai'ds her but feelings of harshness. This is not the fact. 
Let England send her ships of war to Cliarleston, to invade South Carolina, and New 
England would be therein ten days, to drive old England into the sea, and to defend 
South Carolina against everyboiiy but South Carolina herself, as against all the for- 
eign nations of the eaith. South Carolina has a friend on every acre of ground in 
America. Treason, sir, is not hostility to your enemies ; it is hostility to your friends. 
When it is said that we nnist not stop the rebellion ; that we must not speak out in 
))otent tones against the revolution, it is also said that if the nation so speaks fi'aternal 
blood will stain the I'almetto State, and that a conflagration of war will sweep over 
the Iicpublic. It is well to remember that the ])eople of the thirty-three States live 
imdei' a system of Government. It i-. not a despotism. This system cannot be 
bioken in part without being broken in whole. Destroy any part of this grand sys- 
tem, and you have no system left. In this grand system of our Union, each State 
has its orbit, and cannot rush out of that orbit without bringing destruction upon 
the whole system. 

" Lot earth inil);ilaiiccd from her orbit fly, 
Planets and suns rush hiwless through the sky." 

I would by all means avert the dread catastrophe of warring Slates. I would 
aveit tiie awful scene of human woe, when, 

" Like lava roll.s tlie stream of Idood, 
And sweeps down empires with its flood." 

Tf harmony cannot be restored now, farewell to liberty, farewell to the Union, fare- 
well to America and her hopes, farewell to the home of the brave and land of the 
free. The jiower of the (ienerai Government acting within its legitimate authority^ 
Muist stop the mad career of South Carolina, or South Carolina will break up this 
I'liion. The Union must control that State, or that State will control the Union. In 
niv judgtMuent there will be, in a few short montjis, but two political parties in the 
United States of America. One party will be for the Union and the other paity 
aeainst it. All former issues will be swallowed up in this grand issue. He that is 
tii.t tor the Union will be tbund against it. Every man must decide for himself. 
TluMe never was a time in the history of this Government when political wheat and^ 
jxilitical chaft" could be so comjiletely separated as now. The smut and mildew ot 
]i()litiejil weakr.ess and political conujition will be sifted out from the solid wheat of 
political integrity and solid patriotism. On cue side of this issue will be found the 
guardians of liberty, the lovers of the Fnion and the defenders of the Constitution. 
On the other side you may find men who believe that Washington, Franklin, Lang- 



w 

don, King, Johnson, Hamilton, Livingston, Dickinson; McIIeniy, Carroll, Madison, 
Williamson, Pinckney and Baldwin, were not so wise as tlie men of the present day, 
and that those men did not understand what form of government was best calculated 
to secure the blessing of liberty to themselves and to their posterity. You will find 
men who have not confidence in the constitutional doctrines of Madison, Jefferson, 
Wria-ht, Cass, Jackson, Webster and Clay on one side. On the other side you will 
iind'the solid men of the nation, with fixed homes and fixed principles, and a joyous 
hope that their children's children shall enjoy the blessings of our liberty and our 
Union for ao-es to come. On the other hand you will find the restless spirits of filli- 
bustering ambition, the lovers of agitation and the advocates of secession and nullifi- 
calion. On the one side you will find the men who feel a deep responsibility and afc- 
lachmentto the gi'eat institutions of our common country, and will stand by them, 
uphold them and defend them. Men will take sides in this issue according to their 
]»olitica! character. We know this must be so. The strength of our Union must 
depend upon the strength and devotion of its supporters. Let the friends of our 
Union be calm and' wise in their deliberations. Let no unbridled passions dethrone 
their judgment. Let no party jealousy pollute their love of country. Let no political 
heresy shake their wonted faith in the wisdom of our fathers. Let our whole country 
he the controlling theme of our jwlitical sohcitude, and all will be well and the Union 
shall be preserved. 

Would to heaven that each and every man in our whole country, at this time and 
\\\ all coming time, could feel that deep and glowing patriotism which swelled and 
moved the great heart of a great statesman, upon a momentous occasion, as he spoke 
out in tones of eloquence never to be forgotten : " When my eyes shall be tui'ned to 
behold for tJie last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken 
i;iid dishonoi'ed fragments of a once gloi'ious tJnion ; on States dissevered, discord- 
Mit, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal 
i'lood ! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign 
t.f the Ke})ublic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high ad- 
vanced, its arms antl trophies streaming in their original lustre ; not a stripe erased 
or polluted, noi' a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable inter- 
rogatory as, What is all this worth ? nor those other words of delusion and folly, 
' Liberty first and Union afterwards,' but everywhere spread all over in characters of 
living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they float over the sea and over the 
land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment dear to every 
true American heai't — Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 



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